Shoplifting Lawyer Livonia

Hire a Top Rated Lawyer for your Livonia Michigan Shoplifting Charge

If you need to go to the 16th District Court for your Livonia Michigan misdemeanor or felony shoplifting charge, you need an exceptional and experienced criminal defense lawyer who will fight on your behalf. No matter if your accusation is from the Laurel Park Place Mall, the Livonia Marketplace, a national retailer (such as Walmart, Marshalls, or Kohls), or a local Livonia business we can properly defend you. Get Attorney Daniel Hilf working for you for immediate action and diligent steps taken toward achieving the best results given your facts and circumstances. Criminal defense lawyer Daniel Hilf appears before the Judges at the 16th District Court (32765 Five Mile Road, Livonia 48154), and throughout the metropolitan Detroit area on a regular basis, aggressively defending all shoplifting charges.

Having to go before the Court to address a shoplifting accusation may seem both depressing and scary, but it is important to remember that facing a shoplifting allegation does not make you a bad person. In fact, shoplifting is prosecuted by the Livonia City Attorney and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office on a regular basis, but it is often based upon a temporary lapse in normally good judgment. However, just because shoplifting charges are heard daily at the 16th District Court and elsewhere in Wayne County it does not mean that there are not serious long term repercussions or that it will not affect your life in a really negative way, because any retail theft conviction can potentially have a long term impact on your future. A sentence from a shoplifting offense may include any or all of the following outcomes: the loss of your freedom (incarceration); probation with strict supervisory conditions; loss of employment; professional licensing issues (for lawyers, accountants, nurses, stock brokers, and other positions that require State or Federal licensing); loss of educational opportunities; steep fines and costs; immigration complications (for persons that are not United States citizens); and personal embarrassment. Beyond a shadow of a doubt – you need a great criminal defense attorney with many years of experience who is one hundred percent on your side working for you.

Shoplifting is alleged to occur by a prosecutor in several different manners, including: when store merchandise is stolen or an attempt to steal store merchandise is made by a person; when the price tag of the merchandise is intentionally changed to a lower price to defraud the store; or when merchandise is fraudulently exchanged in order to obtain money or other store merchandise. Criminal shoplifting cases that are prosecuted at the 16th District Court in Livonia and other courtrooms in Michigan include the following:

First Degree Retail Fraud is a felony charge that carries up to a 5 year maximum prison sentence that is prosecuted when the merchandise involved is $1,000 (one thousand dollars) or more, or if the merchandise involved is $200 (two hundred dollars) or more and the person has a prior theft conviction [however, you can avoid any form of incarceration at the discretion of the Judge assigned to your case].

Organized Retail Theft is felony charge that carries up to a 5 year maximum prison sentence that is also subject to applicable habitual offender sentencing provisions [however, you can avoid any form of incarceration at the discretion of the Judge assigned to your case]. The allegation of Organized Retail Theft is prosecuted in Livonia and other courtrooms when the prosecution believes it has probable cause that the intent of the accused is to commit retail theft from one or more stores and then resell the stolen merchandise to other persons or businesses.

Second Degree Retail Fraud is a misdemeanor charge that carries up to a 1 year maximum county jail sentence that is prosecuted when the merchandise involved is at least $200 (two hundred dollars) but less than $1000 (one thousand dollars), or if the merchandise involved is under $200 (two hundred dollars) and the person has a prior theft conviction [however, you can avoid any form of incarceration at the discretion of the Judge assigned to your case].

Third Degree Retail Fraud is a misdemeanor charge that carries up to a 93 day maximum county jail sentence that is prosecuted under either State law or local ordinance, when the merchandise involved in the offense is less than $200 (two hundred dollars) [however, you can avoid any form of incarceration at the discretion of the Judge assigned to your case].

Removal of a Theft Detection Device is a misdemeanor charges that carries up to a 1 year maximum county jail sentence that is prosecuted under State law [however, you can avoid any form of incarceration at the discretion of the Judge assigned to your case].

Searching for the Best Lawyer near Livonia to Defend a Retail Fraud Arrest or Ticket?

Many businesses in Livonia and across America have implemented loss prevention policies with the goal of reducing shoplifting losses, avoiding contested litigation, and deterring others from committing store theft. A team of coordinated loss protection employees using surveillance equipment (such as merchandise sensors, high resolution cameras, and closed circuit television) are commonly found within malls and large stores for the purpose of combating the liabilities and costs associated with shoplifting. Even with the best technology and extensive training, mistakes are still made and persons are still sometimes falsely arrested due to errors in judgment (such as false identification and false interpretation of a situation), cultural issues, and procedural errors.

If you choose attorney Daniel Hilf to defend your Livonia shoplifting accusation, he will obtain all the available discovery materials to fully and properly defend you, which can include the following: police report(s), loss prevention report(s), witness statement(s), in store video(s), police video(s), photograph(s), statement(s) the police and/or loss prevention claims that you made. Lawyer Daniel Hilf will provide you with well reasoned, courtroom tested, advice concerning whether to conduct a trial in front of a Judge or jury, or whether to choose to accept a plea or plea bargain and try and persuade the Judge to sentence you reasonably and leniently (however, it is ultimately for you to decide how you want to proceed).

You should not delay, and you should hire aggressive and zealous legal representation to help you if charged with a shoplifting offense. As stated earlier, a shoplifting related conviction will likely cause many problems in life in addition to the strict criminal penalties, including making it extremely difficult to find a well paying job or establishing a great career, because many companies do not want to risk hiring someone convicted of stealing. Hire a highly respected criminal defense lawyer for your Livonia based allegation – lawyer Daniel Hilf – to help you, because his legal acumen and his over twenty years of experience inside and outside of Michigan courtrooms is exactly the type of legal representation that you need to confront a shoplifting charge.

If you have Court due to a Livonia shoplifting case, now is the time to make an impactful decision concerning your in court representation by contacting Hilf & Hilf, PLC to schedule an appointment ASAP.